Summer Days of a MotoGP Fanatic

After (painfully) deciding not to take summer classes, I am stuck with sleeping and going to work part-time before heading to Spain. The only sources of excitement come from soccer and MotoGP.

Now that La Liga and the Champions League are over, all of my attention is concentrated on the premier class of moto-bike racing.

Unlike soccer, MotoGP has only come under my radar recently. Last November, my favorite oh-so-biased Spanish sports magazine featured a story of the Spanish Golden Boy instead of covering all of their articles on soccer. If you have been reading my blog at all, you may have heard of his name: Marc Marquez…

The then 20-year-old rookie took the season by the storm. Despite having several crashes (like 17?) and being penalized with a black flag (because of a miscommunication between the team, so he stayed on the track one more round than the rules required for safety purposes of the tires), he went on and won the world championship.

Before the 2014 season had started, the “Baby Champ” broke his leg during a dirt track session. Four weeks later, he competed on the first round of the year in Qatar…and won.

Since then, Marc Marquez has won consecutive qualifying sessions and races. He is on his way to the 6th win this Sunday.

But what really caught my attention is his charisma. Boy, is the guy charming.

You can’t help but feel happy every time you see him.

…It doesn’t hurt that he’s handsome as well…

Well, by no means, he is no David Beckham. But Beckham isn’t my type anyway, HE is.

Ok, let’s go back to the serious talk.

So this weekend is the 6th Grand Prix at the circuit of Mugello in Florence, Italy. I am especially nervous because my favorite rider crashed here last year during a practice session on Friday

Later last year at Silverstone, England, he crashed again and dislocated his shoulder. The doctor “popped” it right back in and declared him “fit” for the race. The man went on to win 2nd place.

The man is not even human.

He’s worth every penny of the Official Fan Club’s membership fee…. Of course, the club is based in his hometown of Cervera (sounds familiar by now, I hope).

See? Everything ties back to Spain.

MotoGP is dominated with Spanish riders. So you can say that I have spent many hours learning Spanish from their interviews. Ha.

This competition also hosts the races all over the world. Although the circuits usually remain on the list, this year is a bit different, as the Argentina’s Rio Hondo was utilized again after many years and the American circuit at Laguna Seca is off of the calendar.

As I have mentioned before, the one coming up this weekend will be in Florence…This city is on top of my bucket list. Maybe one day…

The Italian Mugello circuit is a home race for the 9-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, who is anticipating to make his 300th Grand Prix appearance this weekend. Like Marc, he is super charismatic and the press loves him as his fans worship him… I love him, too, so it’s not a problem.

The only problem I have is having to wake up at 3am to catch the races…Screw the time zones.

Here’s the basics of a typical race weekend in Europe looks like:

-Friday: Free Practice 1 & 2 at 9am (3am to 9:50amU.S. Eastern time)

-Saturday: Free Practice 3 & 4, and the Qualifiers to place the fastest riders in front of the grid for Sunday’s race (same time as Friday)

-Sunday: the actual races…

Why so many hours? Because there are three categories competing: Moto3, Moto2, and Moto Grand Prix.

To be honest, I only watch Moto3 and MotoGP and pay special attention to Marc and his brother 18-year-old Alex, who competed in Moto3.

I guess this explains why I still haven’t had enough info to make a consolidated travel itineraries.

To my defense, I have spent so much time last night learning about the beaches of Mallorca. I should be making my selections soon.